X - - link-machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J.F.BUSEY LINK MACHINE.

` N PErERs PhamLimagmph-r. wmhingm, D4 c.

(No Model.)l f 2 sheetssmet 2. J. I'. BUSEY.

LINK MACHINE.

No. 329,010. Patented 0011.27, 1885.

` of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and journaled on a fixed horizontal shaft, 9, and

`shaft 9, showing the face of the pinion 8 and which is shown in Fig. 3 in full lines, and by f1. rlhe shaftll of the latter wheel is jour- NITE "TAMS arEN'r Erich.

LINK-.scema SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,010, dated October 2'7, 1835.

.ippiicntin flied August a, isas.

To all whom t l11o/tty concern:

Be it known that I, JEROME F.. BUsEY, of Venice, in the county of 'Vashington and State useful Improvement in Link-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following Vto be 4a full, clear, and exact descriptionv thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,T forming a part of this specification, in whichl Figure 1 is a verticallongitudinal section on the line x x of Fig. 2. ,v Fig. 2 is an end View of the machine shown in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow a., Fig. 3 isa verticalcross-section on the line x x of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is aperspective View of parts. Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-section of the the jogs which yare affixed thereto. The teeth on the periphery of this pinion are not shown, the regular circular line inclosing the shaft 9 indicating the pitchline thereof.

` Like letters and figures of reference. indicate like parts in each.

v Inthe drawings, 2 represents the bed-plate of thel machine. It supports two vertical standards, 3 and 4, in which is journaled a horizontal rotary shaft, l5, to the rear endof which is fixed a belt-pulley, 6, and to an intermediate point between the standards is keyeda spur-wheel, 7.. The shaft 5 isxthe main driving-shaft of the machine, and. is continuously rotary, Power is imparted to it by the` belt-pulley GQ The spur-wheel 7 meshes with a gear-wheel, 8, which is loosely the wheel 8 drives a vertical spur-wheel, 1 0,

dotted lines in Fig. 2, but is not shown in Fig.

naled horizontally in suitable bearings, and extends to the front Vof the machine, where a cam, 12, is affixed to it. The gear-wheels 7 and 8 and the cam l2 are continuously moving. The mandrel 13, which bends the chain-links, consists of a pear-shaped bar or shaft set axially within a fixed hollow cylindricalwormblock, 14, so as to be rotatory therein. The rear end of the mandrel-shaft is squared, and proj ectsv back of the worm-block into a squared socket in the end of arotatory drum or shaft, 15, on which are arranged vertical collars 16,

Serial No. 173,309. (No model.)`

bearingagainst the side of a vertical housing, 17, and the end of the worm-block, respectively. These collars steady the drum andthe mandrel in their rotation. On a shaft, 15a,

which is affixed to the rear end of the drum journaled in the housings 17.y The inner surface of the worm-block 14 around the mandrel is lhelically grooved, and at the rear end thereof a hole or passage, 21,- extends transversely through the worm-block, and through the boxcor casing 22. which incloses it, Figs. 1 and 3. A side of the mandrel 13 is longitudinally slotted or grooved throughout its whole length, as at 2 f .In operation the end of a heated bar o proper diameter is inserted through the hole 2lv into the slot 23, which .is then opposite thereto, and as `the mandrel rotates it will bend this inserted end into a hook. and will commence to wrap the bar round vits surface. During thisV wrapping, the helical groove in the worm-block willengagethe heated bar,

and willA guide it so ,that it will emergey from the front end of the blockin the form of a helixas will be readily-understood. After` each rotation of the mandrel, producing a single coil of the helix, laterally-moving forming-dies 25 and 26 are moved against the projecting circular coil and bend it into an elliptical form,the proper shape for a chain-blank, and a reciprocating knife descendsand cuts offthe blank.` Y

I will now describe the operation of these parts.

The forming-die 25V is mounted in horizontal ways or slides 27 at the front of the machine, and is driven. by a cam, 28, which rotates withi-n a heart-shaped cam-space, 29, made in the body of the die, and so formed that afterthe cam hasmoved the die to its farthest position the end of the cam, in its further movement, (see Fig. 2,) will suddenly release itshold on the die and allow .it to be retracted by a spring, 30,. one end of which bears against a part of the die and the other end against a tongue or stop, 31, onthe frame ICO of the machine.l The cam 28 is driven by and same direction'and for the same purpose as keyed to a shaft, 32. on whichis xed a spurwheel, 33, Fig. 3. The latter spur-wheel gears with and is driven by the pinion 18, which is of equal diameter with the spur-wheel 33, is keyed to the mandrel-shaft 15, and is driven by the spur-wheel 19, as before described. The mandrel and the cam 28 therefore rotate synchronously and perform the same number of revolutions in a given time. Suppose the mandrel and cam be started from the positions which they occupy in Fig. 2, and suppose that the knife 24 has just severed ablank from the coil, the first effect of the cams motion is to release the die and to allow the spring .30 to draw it suddenly back. The cam-space 29 isl so shaped that the cam will not begin to ad- Vance the die until the mandrel has performed about three-quarters of its revolution, and until about three-quarters of the link-blank has emerged from the Worm. Then the advance of the die will cause its front end,which is made concave, as shown, to engage the side of the projecting coil and to bend it inward, at the same time guiding the coil as it continues to emerge from the worm. The cam will have moved the die to its farthest point at the same time that the mandrel has completed its revolution and formed a single blank. By automatic mechanism,which I will hereinafter describe, .the die and mandrel then come immediately to rest and occupy the relative positions shown in Fig. 2. During this period of rest the die 26, which is mounted in slides on the other side of the mandrel, advances, bends its adjacent side of the projecting coil toward the mandrel, and then recedes. The knife 24 then descends and, engaging the coil as it comes from the worm, cuts off the blank against 'a fixed bed-knife, 34. After this the knife is retracted andthe cam 28 and the mandrel begin to act, as before explained. The effect of the forming-dies is that when the blanks are severed'they will have been shaped into the proper elliptical form of a chain-link, instead of the circular form in which they are usually turned out from link-machines. The cam 12, which moves the die 26, is continuously rotary and works within a yoke-space, 35, of such shaperelatively to the yoke-space of the other cam, 28, that the die'26 will not be moved against the link-blank until immediately after the die 25 has been moved to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the mandrel has performed its complete revolution. The die 26 has a concave face similar to that of the die 25, and is retracted by a similar spring, 30.

Instead of the coiled springs 30, leafsprings or any other equivalentr mechanism may be usedto retract the shaping-dies. In Fig. 2 I have shownthe coiled springs 30, and in addition, and as auxiliary thereto, I have shown V leaf-springs 30, which are fixed to a stationary part of the machine-frame and bear upon pins on the faces of their respective dies. The leaf-springs exert a force upon the dies in the their companion springs 30.

Owing to the helical form of the link-blank, which emerges from the worm at a point nearer to the base of the mandrel, the faceof the die 25 should be made thicker than that of the die 26, so that they may engage the blank properly. The reason why the die 26 is not advanced until the link-blank has been formed by the mandrel and worm is that I thus avoid the buckling against the face of the die, which might otherwise occur. As before stated, the cam' 12 is driven by the engagement ofthe spur-wheels 10 and 8, which are of equal diameter and revolve Without intermission.

The gearing which imparts intermittentmotion to the cam 28 and to the mandrel is thus constructed; A lateral cam, 36, is fixed to the stationary shaft 9, the side of the pinion 19 being recessed at 39 around its axis, so that it may fit against vthe back of the cam and rotate over it. A corresponding cam, 37, vis fixed to the adjacent side of the spur-wheel 8, and the latter is made movable lengthwise on its shaft and given a tendency toward the wheel19 by means of a coiled spring, 38,whieh is interposed `between the wheel 8 and the vertical standard 4. As the spur-wheel 8rotates on its axis, its cam 37 will engage the fixed cam 36, and the Wheel will be forced thereby away lfrom the pinion 19 against the tension of they spring 38, and as soon as the cams have passed each other the spring will throw the wheel 8 forward again against the face of the pinion, the cam 37 `then entering the annular recess 39.- The face of the spur-wheel 8 next the wheel 19 is provided with two lateral j ogs or lugs, 40, each yof 'which extends concentrically with the shaft 9, preferably for a length of about forty-five degrees, the ends of the jogs beng, respectively, diametricallyopposite to each other. The face of the pinion 19 next the spur-wheel 8 has similarlyarranged jogs 41 41a.

When the cam 36 is engaged with the cam 37, it will push the wheel 8 away from the pinion 18, so as to separate the jogs, as shown in Fig. 1. If, now, the parts are as shown in that figure, with the wheel 8 revolving in the ldirection of the arrow of motion, b, as soon as the cam 37 has passed the xed` cam 36 the spring 38 will force the lspur-wheel 8 toward the pinion 19, and will bring the faces of the j ogs on both wheels in contact. The pinion 8 and its jogs will thus revolve until the back ends of the jogs40 have passed the front ends of the jogs on the then still pin-ion 19, when the wheel 8 will be thrown farther forward, so as to bring the j ogs of each respectively in contact with the side of the opposite wheel. When, however, the front ends of the jogs 40 reach the rear ends of the jogs4141, they will engage or lock, and therotation of the driving- Wheel 8 will turn the wheel 19 until the cams 36 and 37 come into contact, when the drivingwheel 8 will be pushed back on its shaft far ICJ IIO

enough to disengage the jogs. rThe effect of this is to stop the wheel 19 and its driven parts. The wheel 8 then revolves freely until the cams have passed, and until the Afront and rear ends of the jogs 40 and 41a again engage, when the wheel 19 receives another intermittent motion, and so theoperationis continued. As before stated, the ends of the jugs on the several wheels are diametrically opposite to each other. 'Ihe wheel 8 will therefore impart a semi-revolution to the wheel 19 during its every whole revolution, and will cause it to remain at rest during the remainder thereof. Of course the teeth of the pinion 7 should be made Wide enough to permit the wheel 8 to be moved lengthwise on its shaft without throwing it out of gear. A suitable cam or other equivalent moving device may be substituted for the spring 88. The cam 12,which is driven by the continuous rotation of the spurwheel 8, is so timed with the cam 28 that it does not advance its die until the cam 28 and the mandrel have been stopped by the intermittent gearing just described, and the cam 28 and the mandrel, though moving during only one-half of the time of motion of the cam 12, are caused to perform whole revolutions in the same period of time by making the pinion 18 of one-half the diameter of its driving-wheel 19. The former will therefore turn completely around during the semi-revolution of thewheel 19 andthe full revolution of the wheel 8.

The operation of the knife 24 is yet to be described. It is set vertically above the bedknife 34, and above the exit of the worm, and is affixed to a head, 42, which reciprocates Within a box or casing, 43. A vertical slot is made in the knife-head, and in it is set ahelical spring, 45, which bears against the knifehead atthe top of the slot, and upon a cross bar or brace, 44, affixed to the casing 43, thus exerting an upward pressure on the head. The latter projects above the casing 43, and bears against the periphery of an abrupt cam, 46, which is affixed to the main driving-shaft 5 and is rotatory therewith. Once in each revolution of the shaft the cam forces -thc knife downward against the pressure ,of the spring 45 and severs the link-blank, and then the cam immediately releases the knife-head and suffers the spring to move it up in the casing and to withdraw the knife 24. The knifecam is timed relatively to the cam 12 and to the mandrel, so that it only actuates the knife after the blank has been wormed out, and after the die 26 has shaped it.

Thus constructed, the machine is very valuable on account of its simplicity and efficiency of action. rIhe shaping-dies 25 and 26 are of particular importance, because they enable the machine not only to make an annular link-blank, but also to form it into the proper elliptical shape, thereby avoiding the necessity of reheating and shaping the blank by a subsequent process after it has been taken from the link-machine.

space between them to permit the insertion of 7o other links when the chain is finally Welded.

If desired, one of the dies 25 or 26 may be fixed and the other movable toward it,though this would be disadvantageous on many accounts.

I doy not desire to limit myself closely to the precise arrangement of mechanism herein shown and described; but

VhatI claim as my invention, and desire to' secure by Letters "Patent, is i 1. In a link-machine, the combination of a rotatory mandrel for forming the link-blank into a helical configuration, shaping-dies situate at the exit of the mandrel, arranged to clamp the blank and to compress it into proper shape, and mechanism for actuating the dies, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, in a link-machine, of a rotary mandrel Afor forming the link-blank into a helical configuration, shaping-dies situate at the eXit of the mandrel, and movable toward each other to clamp the blank and to compress it into proper shape, and mechanism for actuating the dies, one of the latter being so actuated as to move toward the blank during the process of forming the blank by the mandrel, and the other die actuated so as to be thus moved after the formation thereof, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In a link-machine, the combination of a rotatory mandrel for forming the link-blank into a helical configuration, shaping-dies situate at the exit of the mandrel, arranged to clamp the blank and to compress it into proper shape, mechanism for actuating the dies,and a spring for retracting the dies, suhstantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination of a mandrel for forming the link-blank into a helical configuration, reciprocally-moving clamping-dies situate at the eXit'of the blank from the mandrel, and cams for actuating the dies, said cams operating within yokes in the heads or frames ofthe dies, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. In a link-machine, the combination of a rotatory mandrel for forming the link-blank into a helical configuration, shaping-dies situate at the exit of the mandrel, arranged to clamp the blank and to compress it into proper shape, mechanism for actuating the dies, and a knife actuated so as to sever the blank after it has been shaped by the dies, substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. rIhe combination of a link-forming mandrel, 13, and a shaft for rotating the same, a shaping-die, 26, and a shaft for actuating it continuously, a gear-wheel, 8, movable lengthwise on its shaft, connected with the continuously-moving shaft of the said die, and pro- ICO vided vsith a lateral cam, 37, a gear-Wheel, 19, mounted on the ,shaft of the Wheel 8,and actuating the shaft of the mandrel, these gear wheels being provided with lateral jogs, a lateral cam capable of engagement with the cam 37,' and of separating the gear-Wheels, and devices for causing them to approach when freed from the cams, substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. The combination of a shaft, 9, a gear- Wheel mounted on the shaft and capable of mot-ion lengthwise thereon, a second gear Wheel, 19, one of the gear-wheels being provided with a lateral cam, 37 a second cam for engaging the cam 37 and separating the said gear-Wheels, and devices for causing them to approach, the adjacent faces of the gear-Wheels being provided with jogs capable of engagement and disengagement by action of the cams, whereby a continuous rotation of the one Wheel Will impart an intermittent rotation to the other, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have n hereunto set my hand this 29th day of July, A. D. 1885.

JEROME F. BUsEY. 

